Dark Night
by Elena Winchester
Summary: What happens when the dead return to life only to find their past reality in ruins? What happens when a train brings something dark to the city? What happens when the only light for the innocent is the guilty? A world tries to survive through chaos and despair. Who can overcome his fears?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Prologue

The black sky was too heavy tonight. That was what he thought when his foot touched the pavement of the port. He had just arrived to his old city. A city notorious for its crime and corruption. The truth was that he didn't like the idea of being there, but he was gone for too long. He needed to return, to reclaim what was his and to put an end to all the things he hated for all these years. He crossed the wide paved area of the port and headed to a payphone nearby. He opened the glass door and entered the one square fit long chamber. He let his heavy back pack fall to the ground and picked up the phone, he dialled a number that hadn't use for years and waited.

"Hallo?" a man's voice answered, he sounded tired.

"Alfred…" the man managed to say but to his surprise he chocked.

"Master Bruce?" Alfred shouted astonished. Bruce lifted his head back happy to hear his trusted friend's voice again, his eyes fell on the inscription above him "Gotham City Payphone". He was back.

A few days after his arrival Bruce Wayne was still behind in catching up everything that has happened during his absence. The problems of the city were piling up by the day with no hope of improvement. As far as Wayne Industries were concerned things were good economically but the head of the company had a troubling interest in weapons development. He had a lot of work to do, but first he need to deal with one pressing issue, Alfred.

"Good morning master Bruce? Did you sleep well?" Alfred asked with his British accent as he entered the bedroom.

"Very well Alfred thank you." Bruce answered and sat on the bed. He hadn't sleep very good last night. He had the usual nightmares that were troubling him for the last year, but Alfred didn't know any of these and the question was, should he know?

"I've brought you your breakfast, I hope you still like orange marmalade, and here is the newspaper."

"Yes, thank you."

"Master Bruce, I am sorry for asking but I wanted to ask you since you called that night, why? What happened? Why now?" Alfred's eyes where full of worry and something else that Bruce could translate only as longing.

"I…" He didn't know what he was going to answer. He came back with a goal but he hadn't had a plan yet.

"Master Bruce?" Alfred's voice took him out of his thoughts. He had spaced out.

"I came back because I need to make things right Alfred, I want to." He said finally not certain that these were the right words for what he wanted to say.

"To make things right sir? I'm sorry I don't understand what you mean." Alfred looked puzzled and worried, the exact expression Bruce didn't want to see.

"I need to stop running Alfred, from my past, from who I am and from reality, Gotham's reality." He answered and with each word he became surer for his cause.

"So you want to stay here again?" Alfred asked but know he looked rather happy.

"Not just stay, I want to fix things for this city Alfred, I want to correct the wrongs that have happened and prevent new ones from ever occur." Bruce explained and stood up from the bed. As he walked up and down the room, Alfred saw for the first time his masters back. The shock was great. Every inch of Bruce's back was covered with scar tissue. Some scars looked like they were from a whip, others looked like deep cuts. Alfred opened his mouth to speak but no voice came out of his throat. Bruce was looking out of the window when he continued talking.

"But I can't do that with any conventional method. The rot of this city is too deep. I never imagined that things were going to be like this. If I try to take a stand as Bruce Wayne, the best case scenario is that I'm going to be ignored, but as something new and radical I can be heard, as a symbol I can be respected and as a shadow I can be feared by those I seek to destroy." Bruce said more to himself than to Alfred who was overwhelmed by what he was hearing and seeing. The boy he once loved was not there any more. After a brief pause Bruce turned and looked at Alfred and saw his expression of total fear, fear for the person that was not only his master but also his child, his son.

"I know how I must seem to you, a crazy man talking of things that you can't possibly understand. But I assure you I have thought about this a lot and if I am to go on I need to do this." Bruce's words seemed to Alfred insane but he spend a life time supporting this kid he wasn't going to stop now. "How?" he manage to say at the end. "How are you going to achieve that?"

"I don't know!" Bruce answered and started pacing again.

"Maybe this will give you an idea." Alfred said and picked up the newspaper. Bruce looked at him puzzled and took the newspaper. The front page had an article about a double homicide in the narrows. The killer had escaped from Arkham Asylum and was considered delusional and insane.

"Go to page seventeen." Alfred said. Bruce looked at him and with a perplexed look but did what his butler said. When he reached the page and saw the title of the article his heart skipped a bit. He had found it, the solution of how he can succeed.

_VIGILANTE TEARING THROUGH STARLING CITY_

_Last night Adam Hunt, a highly successful business man of Starling City was found dead with an arrow in his heart. This is not the first incident that involves the notorious Vigilante of Starling City, who uses arrows to kill his pray. The people of Starling are both scared and baffled by this person who dresses up in a green hood and kills people. Many believe that he also stops crime as witnesses say that have seen him stop a robbery two nights ago. Starling P.D has unleashed a manhunt for the man in the hood._

"That's it Alfred! A symbol!"

"Yes master Bruce, but please tell me that you are not going to dress up only to kill people!"

"No Alfred, of course not. This Vigilante is clearly disturbed it won't be long until he is apprehended." Bruce said and tossed the paper on the bed.

"What are you going to do then?"

"I'm going to show Gotham that all is not lost yet, I'm going to give the city back to its people."

**_A few hours ago in Central City…_**

The train had just arrived to the station. People were running to get in since there wouldn't be another one for at list an hour. All those people had a long journey ahead of them till they could reach the East Coast. One of them wasn't very anxious though. The person was walking slowly and heavily. Everyone who looked at the person couldn't make out whether was a woman or a man, the only thing they could see was a large trench coat, too large for that body and a hood that covered the total of the face. The person entered the train constantly looking down. Took a seat and exhaled heavily. Only one thought crossed that troubled mind, Gotham City.

So that was the prologue... hope you enjoy it! I'm looking forward to our next meeting in chapter two!


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2 _**

_"__Bruce Wayne returns! That's the headline of our story tonight. The billionaire who was presumed dead returned from obscurity over a week ago. Mister Wayne wasn't available for comment. But the question that all of us have is where he was all this time and what is he planning to do now that he is back …" _the news presenter on the television continued with her story but Bruce didn't pay much attention. He was waiting for the elevator to take him to what had once been his dad's office. He felt a knot in his stomach but none could tell, he had put on his mask, the face that never felt anything, the face of a man determined to do what's necessary, the face that accompanied him all these years during the bad times he had to endure. The elevator door opened and he entered the small chamber, a few seconds later he reached the top floor. Everything was exactly as he remembered. The secretary was at the phone when he reached her desk. "Excuse me can I see Mr. Earle?" The secretary without looking at him got off the phone and asked for his name.

"Wayne, Bruce Wayne." He answered and couldn't help a smile. The secretary astounded looked up at him with half her mouth open.

"One minute Mr. Wayne, I'll inform him." She said at the end. She picked up the second line and informed the active CEO of Wayne Industries of Bruce's presence. Bruce saw her move her head to what Mr. Earle was saying to her, before she allow him to enter his office. The door next to them opened with a thump. "Mr. Wayne! What a nice surprise! Please come in." Mr Earle came out of his office, on his wrinkly face was pinned a smile that Bruce could easy see behind it. One thing was certain Mr. Earle wasn't very happy to see him.

"How are you son?" Mr Earle asked as he urged Bruce to enter his office. Bruce entered the room with a smile and said "Now I'm very good." He sat on the chair in front of the desk and waited for his host to do the same. Mr Earle offered his guest some coffee and continued with his questions.

"Bruce Wayne... in the flesh! After so many years with not so much as a sign of life. If i may ask where were you?"

"Nowhere specific. You could say I enjoyed the full of life and now that I've return I want to continue doing it." Bruce said. Mr Earle let a smile slip his lips. "Well I am happy you returned! You will find that Wayne Industries are in a very good place right now. My colleges and I are doing our best to take care of this empire."

"And I thank you for it! I couldn't dream of having done a better job myself. Frankly this line of work never was my style. But I would like to get more familiar with the company my family built."

"That is great! In what division are you interested?"

"I was thinking applied science..."

"Fox's division. I'll inform him to expect company." He said and stood up. "Now if you excuse me I need to be in a meeting, the company's business never stops!" He concluded and reached his hand to greed Bruce. "It was a pleasure to see you again Bruce."

"Mr. Earle the pleasure was all mine!" Bruce said then stood up and headed for the door. Mr. Earle smiled and opened the door for Bruce, then he addressed his assistant "Please take Mr. Wayne to the Applied Science offices.

The way to Mr. Fox office was very simple to remember, you simply had to enter the elevator and push the button for the second basement of the building. When the elevator stopped, the woman led Bruce through a wide area filled with drawers and huge objects covered with large black sheets. Mr. Fox was sitting in a small white desk at the corner of the vast room. The scene was a bit depressing. The middle aged man was all alone in a room filled with inventions, that Bruce knew had never seen the light of day, it was a shame.

"Here we are! Mr. Fox will see you now." The woman said in a thin voice.

"Thank you!" Bruce said and walked towards the man, who had stopped whatever he was doing and was looking directly at him. Bruce reached Mr. Fox and gave him his hand. "Hallo Mr. Fox, I understand you are the manager of Applied Science division?"

"Bruce Wayne. Welcome back. We are really glad that the rumours of your death weren't true." Fox said and a smile intensified the wrinkles on his dark skin. Bruce could see the sincerity of his words.

"Thank you Mr. Fox. It took me a while but now I'm back…" Bruce said and started to look around.

"Indeed." Fox answered with a scepticism colouring his voice. "May I ask, what are you doing here sir? I mean you are back to the city after a long time, I can't understand what interest you may have in this junk."

"I hardly consider as junk the investments of my family's company" Bruce answered.

"I'm sure you don't Mr. Wayne, but I'm interested to know, did Earle told you what this division is in reality?"

"No, what is it?" Bruce replied and his words made Fox smile.

"A dead end."

_Meantime at the Clocktower…_

Little Anna loved the way the chocolate melted in her mouth. She put another peace in her mouth and offered her mother half of her bar. Her mother was nervous for the entire road and she believed with her innocent mind that a little chocolate was enough to cheer her up. Madeline refused her daughter's offer and kept her mind focused on the person behind them. He or she, Madeline couldn't make out the deference, was following them for the past three blocks always kipping his or her face hidden. Little did she know that the person wasn't following them but the man at the opposite side of the road. He was wearing a leather jacket and his ears were covered in piercing.

The person in the trench coat, who Madeline so much feared, followed with his or her eyes the man in the leather jacket as he was crossing the road and headed directly for the mother and her daughter. The face under the hood tightened and its owner started running. The man with the piercings took out a knife and had his attention fixed at the terrified mother, who reacted by hugging the child tightly. The person in the trench coat had reached the thief without him expecting it and with a kick knocked the knife off his hand. Pissed off, the criminal responded with a punch, aiming at the persons face. The punch was avoided by the person with a graceful evasive move, which made the hood slide, revealing the long dark brown hair of a woman. Immediately after she evaded her attackers punch, she responded in kind. First she hit him with her elbow, a blow quickly followed by a right punch. The criminal was down. She looked the mother and her child, both were scared to death. "Call the police." The woman said and Madeline manage to move her head in response. The woman took the knife from the ground put it on the back pocket of her jeans and after she put her hood back on, she run towards Wayne Tower. She may was already too late. They couldn't succeed.

That was Chapter two of Black Night! Hope you've enjoyed it! I'm looking forward for your thoughts! :)


End file.
